


Sing those Campfire Songs

by nacibecca



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Keith is suffering, M/M, Shiro has a cool arm that totally works in the water, Summer Camp AU, based on the headcanons by elmesart, but not really, for pidge
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-17
Updated: 2016-08-17
Packaged: 2018-08-09 10:39:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7798573
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nacibecca/pseuds/nacibecca
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith was looking forward to a whole summer of doing nothing, but apparently life (and his mom) had other plans. Now Keith has to deal with a superhot co-worker who may have lost an arm battling tigers in Thailand, becoming an accidental vegan, and being a camp counselor in the middle of nowhere.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sing those Campfire Songs

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Voltron fic! Its based off of elmesart's summer camp au from tumblr! its unbeta'd so if i made any mistakes please let me know! :)

The gravel path beneath Keith's shoes crunched as he trudged his way to the main office. A large sign that read "CAMP VOLTRON" greeted him cheerfully, but Keith felt anything but cheerful. A whole month. A whole month he had to stay here. He knocked on the office door but there was no answer. He sighed loudly. Typical.

The sun beat down mercilessly making Keith's head uncomfortably hot. He was going to die of heatstroke before the first day, he could feel it. He was going to melt. Is this what Hell was like? It must be. Hell disguised as a summer camp. He sat down on the bench, cursing the universe that was surely laughing at him.

How did he get into this situation? Oh yeah, his mom.

"Look, honey!" she said after she had called him over to the computer. "Camp Voltron needs a male counselor for its second session! You could do it." She smiled encouragingly. 

"No thanks," had been Keith's original answer, but his mother persisted. Something about making new friends, getting some Vitamin D, finally contributing to the household like a responsible adult should, all very solid reasons.

 

Finally Keith had caved and within two weeks he was off to Cleveland, Georgia with a very large duffel bag in tow.

Said duffel bag was turning a strange shade of orange from the clay beneath Keith's feet. He considered knocking again when a very tall man with hair the same shade as the dirt appeared.

"Oh my quiznac, you must be Keith!" The man rushed over. He had a strange accent, maybe Australian? He yanked Keith to his feet and began shaking his hand fervently. "My name is Coran and I am the assistant director here. I'll show you around camp and get you settled in." Coran let go of Keith's hand and tried to lift his duffel. He failed.

"I'll carry that," Keith grabbed the duffel and slung the strap over his shoulder. 

Coran nodded pompously. "As you should. Builds muscle and character," he said but Keith could see a faint dusting of pink on his cheeks.

They walked over to a rickety golf cart that said "Altean's ONLY". Coran got in and Keith dropped his bag on the back seat. Then Coran took off, the cart making very distressing squeaks. Keith held on to the very flimsy safety bar for dear life.

"Um, what's an Altean?" Keith asked hesitantly. He winced and tried not to look at the very steep hill they were on.

Coran's eyes widened. "I forgot! You're new! Altean is just another name for leadership. Like assistant director and unit heads! Your unit head is Allura, you'll meet her later." Coran took a very sharp turn and Keith began to feel a tad queasy. Thankfully, Coran then stopped the cart with a sickening screech. 

"This is your bunk! Boy's Three A, or B3A for short," he announced.

Keith winced as he saw the very steep steps leading down to the bunk. After some ingenuity, a couple of stubbed toes, and some rolling, Keith's duffel bag made it into the bunk safe and sound. 

"Tour time!" Coran clapped Keith on the back. Keith winced. It hurt more than it should for someone who couldn't lift a duffel bag.

As they zoomed around the relatively empty camp, Coran filled Keith in on his position. "You'll be with the unit we call 'inters' which means they are going into middle school. Your co is named Hunk, great guy," and that's when Keith stopped listening and started observing his surroundings. Despite the heat, it was a pretty camp. The trees made a canopy on most of the road and the lake sparkled in the distance. The ropes course seemed challenging, yet fun and the wooden cabins gave the place that unique summer camp vibe. Finally, the golf cart stopped at a large building on top of the highest hill. 

"The dining hall," Coran explained. "You know, I've worked at maybe three camps and they all seem to have the dining hall in the most inconvenient spot. By the way, are you a vegan?"

"No, why?"

"No reason."

Keith didn't know how to respond to this so he got out of the golf cart and pushed open the glass doors. There were a small amount people assembled inside already, and more were coming through the back entrance. 

A figure clad in a blue tank top and obscene short-shorts knocked past Keith. 

"HUNK, BUDDY, I'VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH!!"

A man in a yellow shirt and a bandana tied around his head turned around with wide eyes. "Lanfffh!" His yell was muffled by the watermelon in his mouth.

The man took a running start and leaped into Hunk's waiting arms. 

Ah, so that was Hunk. Hunk swung the skinny boy around in a circle. 

A kid sitting at the table next to the celebrating duo thunked their head on the table. "You saw him literally five minutes ago." 

The boy in Hunk's arms gasped. "I'll have you know, Pidge, that it has been seven minutes and six seconds." 

Hunk nodded seriously. "Yeah, Lance had to park the car all the way up the hill."

It was at this point Coran interrupted the conversation to introduce Keith.

Hunk immediately dropped Lance (who landed on his butt with a painful " _ooompf_ ") and raced over to shake Keith's hand. "Nice to meet you, co-counselor! Are you ready for the joyous experience that is eleven year olds?" 

Once again, Keith didn't know how to respond. He didn't particularly like kids. Fortunately, Hunk didn't require an answer.

"This beautiful man here on the floor is Lance, and the fourteen- year old is Pidge. Don't listen to anything Pidge says because it's most likely going to get you in trouble."

Pidge shook their head in protest. "Not true." But the glint in their eyes told Keith that this was not a kid to mess with.

Hunk insisted on Keith eating with them, and in the short amount of time, Keith had learned a few things. 

1) Pidge was what they call a "day camper" because they participated in the activities but slept in a different residence with their dad who was the camp doctor and had an older brother who was a couselor.

2) Hunk and Lance had been going to camp "since forever, noob," according to Lance.

3) Lance was as obnoxious as his booty shorts. 

"What do you mean, you're not a vegan"?" Lance shouted. "You look like a classic vegan. Mullet hair and everything."

Keith's eyebrows furrowed together and raised his voice to match Lance's. "Well I'm not a vegan. And at least don't look like a- a," he hesitated as he tried to come up with a good comeback, "a lameass," he finished like a lameass.

Lance smirked and Keith felt incredibly warm. There was an unpleasant squeal of a mike and thankfully, Keith was prevented from further embarrassing himself.

"Is this thing on? Oh, there we go," said Coran's amplified voice. "Hello staff! I hope you've had a good break! Now, we have a new face with us, Keith! Keith, please stand up."

Shit, spoke too soon about the embarrassing himself further. "Hi," he said awkwardly.

Lance began to whistle and clap loudly. "Yeah, Keith!" Keith sent him a glare that would have melted steel beams.

After the meal, Coran approached him again, this time with a very pretty girl who looked like she could kick Keith's assand he'd probably say thank you by his side. 

"Allura! Looking beautiful as always." Lance put up finger guns and winked. Pidge and Hunk groaned in unison.

Allura gave Lance a tolerant smile and turned her attention to Keith, now smiling eagerly, "Hello, Keith! I'm Allura, your Altean. I'm in charge of your schedule for off-duty and your day to day activities. If you need help settling in, please let me know! I'm here to help." Her accent was similar to Coran's but slightly more British.

Keith smiled hesitantly. Allura seemed cool. 

"Alright! Get changed after lunch! You have a swim test!" Allura said brightly. "Hunk, you'll show him where the pool is?"

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Good! I'll catch up with you later." Allura walked away with a swish of her hair.

Keith's stomach twisted into knots. Swim test?

Hunk looked over at his co who was now sweating buckets. "Dude, you okay?"

No, no Keith was not okay. "I-uh," how did one come out and say they can't swim without sounding like an idiot? "Ican'tswimforshit." Not like that.

Lance cackled. "What a vegan."

\-------

About half an hour later Keith was walking to the pool with Hunk. The big guy tried to give Keith some pointers but if one didn't know how to swim, there isn't much you can do.

"Look, Shiro's a real nice guy. He's in our unit too. I'm sure if you explain the situation, he'll let you off the hook," Hunk said placatingly. He was in his swim suit as well because he didn't feel like unpacking just yet. "Ah, there he is! Hey, Shiro!"

And there jogging to Keith was the most gorgeous man he had ever seen in his little gay life. "Oh my god," he muttered. His brain just could not comprehend that this fine specimen was a real life human being. He was in a muscle tank that "Lifeguard" only but damn did that muscle tank show off Shiro's biceps. A smooth saxaphone solo was playing in the background as Shiro's arms pumped up and down in slow motion. There may have been drool coming out of Keith's mouth as well.

"Hey, who's this?" Shiro asked in a pleasant baritone.

Keith blinked and coughed to hide the blush that was steadily creeping into his face. "Keith." he reached out his right hand and he found that one of Shiro's arms was a prosthetic. 

Shiro looked at Keith closely and Keith noticed there was a little scar across Shiro's nose. "You okay? You look a little sunburned."

"Fine!" Keith said in a much higher pitch than normal. He coughed and then tried again. "Fine."

Shiro raised an eyebrow, but didn't press it. "Alright, for the swim test I'm just going to have you swim a lap back and forth. Sound good?"

Keith nodded eagerly. Then, "No, wait! I can't swim."

Shiro looked mildly shocked. "You can't swim?"

 _If there is a God out there, please have something come out of the ground and eat me please,_ Keith prayed silently. 

But Shiro, bless this man, just put a hand on Keith's shoulder and said, "That's alright. When your kids swim, just stay in the shallow end."

"I think we have staff meetings during swim anyway," Hunk said. "Hey, Shiro, can I jump in for a while?"

"Only a little while." Shiro nodded. He narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "You've unpacked, right? Keith knows what the expectations are? Has he met Allura?"

"What's that, Dad? I can't hear you over the splashing of the water!" Hunk called as he began to sing at the top of his lungs to avoid Shiro's questions. "SWIMMING, SWIMMING, IN THE SWIMMING POOL, WHEN DAYS ARE HOT, WHEN DAYS ARE COLD, IN THE SWIMMING POOL!"

Shiro sighed but Keith could see the faint curling of his lips as Hunk continued to make a fool of himself in the clear blue water.

The rest of the day passed in a blur. Keith unpacked while Hunk played pop songs through a speaker and then they cleaned and brought all their campers luggage to the bunk. B3B's counselors were Matt, Pidge's brother, and none other than Keith's new arch-rival, Lance. But fortunately, interaction was limited as they were all so busy unpacking and cleaning. The day passed in relative peace and ended with a pool party for the staff. After a restless night and a shit ton of coffee later, the campers started arriving and before Keith could comprehend what was happening, he was suddenly responsible for eleven eleven-year-olds. 

The first evening activity of the session was led by Allura and Shiro and was an icebreaker. Keith was seriously beginning to question his first impression of Allura because it quickly became obvious that she was pure evil.

"You are to spell your name with your butt and then tell us an interesting fact about yourself!" Allura said in a peppy voice.

Shiro was beaming next to her. "Counselors, you go first." The whole group of children began to break out in giggles.

Keith would have cringed except he was the adult.  _I love my job, I love my job,_ he chanted to himself as he was forced to spell his name with his butt. 

"And an interesting fact about me is-"

"He's a vegan!" Lance called from across the circle.

Keith was about to protest when Shiro's face lit up. "Really? Me too!"

Well, fuck. Of course this beautiful man would have a beautiful soul as well. "Um, yes, I am a vegan." Lance's jaw dropped open and Keith just couldn't help but throw a small smirk in his direction. Keith sat down to let Hunk go but he felt giddy. Lance had unknowingly helped Keith score some bonus points with Shiro. Then his stomach dropped.

_Oh shit. I have to eat vegan now._

**Author's Note:**

> btw theres nothing wrong with being vegan in any way i just have a headcanon that shiro is a vegan and welp, keith is in love. i decided to make this multichapter instead of a oneshot bc im weak. kudos and comments are super appreciated and if you want to beta hmu @bokutosakaashi.tumblr.com thanks :))


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